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KIRKUS REVIEW

A second prequel trilogy to the child-warrior Ender's
Game series (Earth Awakens, 2014, etc.) opens. This time the
invading alien Formics get serious.

Previously, the Chinese army, assisted by corporate and
international military forces, defeated the first invasion of Earth, but only,
scientists ascertain, because it was executed by a single scout ship charged
with wiping out the local life forms and replacing them with Formic-compatible
ones. But now the colossal mothership commanded by the Formics' Hive Queen,
lurking beyond the solar system's Kuiper belt, gears up for a real fight. It’s
a situation that fascinates, certainly, but so would any plausible existential
threat. The narrative—far too much bureaucratic and domestic padding
interspersed with far too infrequent, though sensational, action
sequences—unfolds chiefly through the viewpoints of the same leading characters
of the first trilogy. Mazer Rackham wants to develop microgravity tactics and
equipment to fight the Formics in space, but all his superiors care about, he
finds, is advancing their own careers and fortunes. Child soldier Bingwen,
Mazer’s colleague in the previous books, suffers uncomplainingly under the
brutal training regimen of his new commanding officer. Space miner Victor
Delgado, his ship commandeered by the new multination International Fleet,
heads into deep space to investigate suspicious Formic activity on a remote
asteroid. And industrialist Lem Jukes tries to develop weapons capable of
penetrating the indestructible hulls of the Formic ships. Meanwhile, they share
intelligence in defiance of the absolute information blackout decreed by the solar
system’s new totalitarian rulers. Here, and elsewhere, the auctorial voice with
its militaristic edge veers unpleasantly close to propaganda.

Trading heavily for verisimilitude on material established years
ago by Card but just about worthwhile for series fans.

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